The first step in effectively addressing Web accessibility barriers is
understanding the basic principles. WAI Resources on Introducing
Web Accessibility is a collection of resources that highlight the basic
principles of Web accessibility and some of the issues for people with
disabilities on the Web. It is important to be familiar with some of these
resources before attempting to retrofit a Web site for accessibility.

While implementing accessibility on an existing Web site may seem
overwhelming at first, there are different approaches to make the process
more efficient and cost effective. For example, there are often simple
barriers that are easy to remove and that are repeated on several instances
across the Web site. Identifying and removing such barriers first may rapidly
enhance the overall quaility of the site. This document provides
considerations and tips to help plan a project to improve the accessibility
of an existing Web site. Also refer to the following related documents:

Note: once a decision to improve the accessibility of a
Web site is taken, it is often useful to inform the users by providing an
"accessibility statement". This will help users to manage their expectations
of the level of accessibility on the Web site and potentially encourage them
to send feedback and suggestions. The statement should be linked from the
home page of the Web site and must be accessible. It should outline the main
problems known about the Web site, and the commitment to improve them. Where
possible, it should also provide a timescale for implementing these
improvements as well as an alternative means of contact, such as a telephone
number or postal address.

Understanding the issues and identifying the barriers on an existing Web
site is essential to plan the accessibility enhancement of the site.
Conducting a Preliminary
Review of Web Sites for Accessibility provides a quick overview of the
level of accessibility on an existing Web site. While this review will not
identify all the accessibility barriers or provide detailed results, it is
easy to perform and gives a rough idea about the scope of the accessibility
barriers on the Web site.

The following resources help carry out a more detailed analysis of the
specific accessibility barriers on an existing Web site:

Ideally, a comprehensive evaluation that combines a conformance evaluation
and user testing of the accessibility features on a Web site is carried out.
However, for first steps in reducing accessibility barriers on an existing
Web site, some shortcuts can be taken to address the most severe barriers
first. For example, not every page needs to be evaluated. Selecting a
representative sample of pages will often highlight key issues that are
common across the Web site. The sample should contain pages with a variety of
each feature (such as data tables, forms, or scripts), pages from each
developer or development group, and pages generated from each template. A
combination of Web accessibility evaluation tools and less formal,
small-scale user testing of accessibility features can also be lucrative at
this stage.

Depending on the size and complexity of the Web site as well as on the
approach used to evaluate its accessibility, large amounts of findings could
be reported back. While this amount of results may seem overwhelming, careful
prioritization can help manage addressing them effectively.

Prioritizing by Barriers

One aspect of prioritizing accessibility improvements is by their relative
impact on accessibility. Consider the following questions:

What is the impact on people with disabilities?

The impact on accessibility can be generally determined by the WCAG 1.0
Priority Levels. Also results from evaluating with users with
disabilities can provide insight about the impact of barriers on a
specific Web site.

Is there a policy requirement to address?

In many cases site-wide or legal policies may introduce obligatory
requirements. These requirements may be bound with certain deadlines,
and they may map to selected WCAG 1.0
checkpoints or priority levels.

How much effort is required to repair it?

The time, cost, and resources required for repairing barriers varies
greatly based on parameters such as the skills of the developers. Some
lower priority problems are very easy to repair and it is often most
efficient to address those first, rather than delaying any further.

Prioritizing by Pages

Another aspect of prioritizing accessibility improvements is by
determining which pages to work on first. Consider pages that have the
greatest impact on the Web site. These are often:

Templates that impact all or many pages.

Elements that impact all or many pages (for example navigation bars and
scripts).

Style sheets that impact all or many pages.

Home page, which is often the first entry point to the site.

Most important pages, and the path to get there from the home page:

Pages and functionality that might be particularly useful for
people with disabilities, such as search features, contact page, and
site map;

Content of particular importance for equal opportunity, such as job
opening listings or legal information (such as terms and
licenses);

Pages and functionality that serve the main purpose of the site,
and the path to complete any transaction that serves the same
purpose.

Frequently-used (high traffic) pages, and the path to get there from
the home page.

Determining the source of accessibility problems helps in defining an
effective plan to sustainably address them. Consider the following questions
to help identify relevant sources of accessibility barriers on an existing
Web site:

Do the authoring and development tools support accessibility?

Does an accessibility policy exist and is it being implemented?

Do the developers have sufficient skills in Web accessibility?

Utilizing Adequate Authoring and Development Tools

Authoring tools (such as editors and content management systems) have a
significant impact on the accessibility of Web sites. The document Essential Components of Web
Accessibility describes the role of authoring tools during the
development process and the effect of insufficient support for accessibility.
Consider the following potential options:

Configuring - often accessibility features are not
enabled by default or need to be optimized for increased accessibility
support on a specific Web site.

Note: Web accessibility evaluation tools can also be
utilized to help identify and reduce accessibility barriers. The document Selecting Web Accessibility
Evaluation Tools provides guidance for finding suitable tools for an
existing Web site and development environment.

Developing and Implementing an Accessibility Policy

Developing Organizational
Policies on Web Accessibility helps to instruct and raise the awareness
of authors and developers who are involved in producing content on the Web.
It is also important to ensure that the policies are being implemented,
possibly by introducing development guidelines and quality assurance
measures. For example, improving evaluation and testing througout the
development process reduces the production of inaccessible content that may
need to be repaired at a later stage. Generally it is far more efficient to
evaluate the accessibility of solutions (possibly involving users with
disabilities) early on in the development process rather than patching less
optimal and more demanding work-arounds at a later stage.

Improving the Expertise of the Web Developers

Implementing Web accessibility is usually the responsibility of several
stakeholders. For example, the authors who develop Web content and the
programmers that develop Web applications have a shared responsibility in
producing accessible solutions. Therefore, each individual involved in Web
production needs to be aware and have a basic understanding in Web
accessibility. For first steps in implementing Web accessibility, it is often
best to combine educating in-house staff with bringing in outside expertise.
Consider the following approaches to address the acquisition of additional
expertise in Web accessibility:

Training Staff - training in evaluating Web content
for accessibility, developing accessible content, or learning about the
accessibility features of authoring tools leverages the skills of
staff.

Hiring Experts - a qualified accessibility expert can
save time and effort in the long run by providing:

the latest best practices for accessibility solutions;

first-hand experience of how people with disabilities interact with
the Web.

Engaging Consultants - experienced consultants can
compensate for missing skills within the staff. For example, additional
skills in CSS is a
common need.

Extensive evaluation reports should contain detailed analysis of the
accessibility findings and recommendations for further actions. These
recommendation are often an ideal starting point in implementing
accessibility repairs. The following tips may help better manage the
repairs:

Separate Tasks

Often it makes sense to separate and assign tasks according to
expertise of the staff. For example, adding image descriptions requires
some knowledge of the content and minor skills with the authoring tool.
However, reparing scripts that generate dynamic content requires
programming skills.

Optimize Processes

Accessibility can be seen as a quality assurance process. Timing
actions and aligning them to other processes can be benefitial. For
example, if a redesign or an update of a Web application is expected,
be sure to provide resources and expertise to support the
implementation of an accessible solution.

Demand Accessibility

Demanding accessibility features in tools and accessibility expertise
for staff increases the potential capacity for developing accessible
solutions. For example, when acquiring a database application, ask the
vendor about the accessibility features and consider the long-term
impact on the Web site.

Integrate Accessibility

Integrating accessibility into the development responsibilities
rather than as a separate activity enables the production of accessible
content without too much additional work. For example, a Web master
could have the new responsibility of checking the accessibility of the
content before it is published.

Validate Solutions

It is often useful to validate accessibility solutions before
investing time and effort implementing inadequate ones. This is
especially useful during redesign phases of Web sites or in the early
stages of content development. Involving users with disabilities is
also valuable in the design phase.

Make Use of Tools

Be sure to get the best possible accessibility support from authoring
tools and development environment. Additionally, Web accessibility
evaluation and repair tools can help identify and reduce accessibility
barriers. W3C/WAI maintains a list of Web accessibility
evaluation tools.